Fizzy drinks are a little different. I like a nice sharp Reed’s Ginger Beer, but I haven’t seen one in a store shelf since we left the US. Making our own has helped fill the occasional craving.

Brewing our own kombucha satisfies both self sufficiency and personal health. This fermented tea hasn’t been on the shelf anywhere during our travels except in the US and Australia. I’m not a fan of sweet carbonated drinks, and it’s just the right amount of a little fizzy, a little sweet, but not too much of either- the perfect refreshing drink or something to settle a queasy stomach. It’s also certainly a really great alternative to commercial sodas, and ascribed with a variety of health benefits. Whether you buy into those or not, the simplest of all is that it’s probiotic, and that’s good for your digestive system and general health.

Really, it’s not so difficult, even on a leaner (as our multihull friends would say) like ours. We churns out new brew at a considerable rate. You need a “starter” (this crazy mushroomy looking thing called a scoby, which is the acronym for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast. Yum!). Then, you just need black tea and sugar, and a big glass jar to keep it all in. There are endless variations of tea types and flavors.

Kombucha brew jar hides behind the through hulls

To minimize the chance for toppling the brew, I keep it low and in the center: it lives in a little nook of space just forward of the mast. If things get really boisterous, we tie it to the mast with webbing, and I can replace the permeable (cloth) top with a screw-on cap. If I really need to (like we did those last 3 days coming into PNG), I stash it with soft goods in a locker.

There’s a spare scoby stashed in an old jam in our fridge, in case I kill the primary.

Comments

* Devon, it’s a snap. We’ve had some rough days and the kombucha hasn’t suffered!

* Clark, well spotted! We put those in a few months ago, but had to admire the shiny boat jewelry for a while first. :-)

* Cidnie, I haven’t posted it. We used a brew kit to make it in Australia, but we gave that away when we left the country. I’m experimenting with different recipes now and can let you know when I have a favorite.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*. Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our Comments Policy.

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Behan Gifford

Behan Gifford graduated from sailing a Sunfish on Lake Huron to racing dinghies at college in Connecticut. Her second date with a cute sailmaker took her on an offshore race aboard a J/35; she threw up, but he married her anyway (she aimed to leeward). A move to Puget Sound resulted in a switch from racing for cruising, and in 2008, she began a nomadic journey on a Stevens 47, Totem. Behan, Jamie, and their three children have since crossed the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans and are currently cruising between the USA and Caribbean. Follow the Totem family here on SAILfeed and at SailingTotem.com